Dad accused of injuring his 3-month-old, blaming mother

A 26-year-old father is in custody after allegedly abusing his baby, leaving the infant with black swollen eyes, not seeking medical attention and asking the mother to take the blame, court records show.

Eddie McGinnis Ailsworth is charged with endangering a child and injury to a child after the then-3-month-old child was found with bruises around his eye on April 5 at his home in the 7900 block of Romea, according to court documents from the Harris County District Court.

Ailsworth was taking care of the baby while the mother was at school. When the woman returned, she found the child lying alone, asleep in the Ailsworth’s bed. She noticed the baby’s eye was swollen and bruised, the document states. The parents took the child to the LBJ hospital in an ambulance.

At the hospital, the woman told the doctors that she dropped the baby on a hardwood floor, and when they told her the injuries were not consistent with that explanation, she admitted that she lied for Ailsworth. He had asked her to take the blame because he did not want to go back to jail, the document states.

Although Ailsworth told the doctors he was the one who dropped the baby on the hardwood floor, the medical examination determined that explanation was still not consistent with the injuries.

A witness reported to investigators that she had seen the suspect rocking the child violently earlier in the day and she had approached him, fearing for the child’s safety. She observed that the baby’s eyes were swollen and he was not moving, court records show. The witness, who lives nearby, said the mother could not have caused the injuries because she was at school when she saw the man with the injured child.

Medical records concluded that the child’s injuries were consistent with abuse.

According to court records, Ailsworth was charged with indecency to a child in 2006.